22-250 for deer hunting?

[Charles S]

As I said before it is MY minimum.

My bad I should have read more closely. A personal choice is a personal choice.

You really should branch out and try the 6.5X55 better sectional densities and higher ballistic coefficients with lower pressures and less recoil. Longer range with excellent penetration.

Good luck this season. I have already been shooting my bow daily...I start this weekend.

[homefires]

.243 or 6mm is the legal limit in New Mexico I think. I would not feel good with less. A .22 rim fire will work if you did it right! Just Me!

[Hawg]

You really should branch out and try the 6.5X55 better sectional densities and higher ballistic coefficients with lower pressures and less recoil. Longer range with excellent penetration.

Had one. Also had some of the others you listed. To me they're just not hunting rounds. Be hard to beat my 06's running almost 3000 FPS for range and penetration. Since I tore ligaments and tendons in my shoulder and elbow I can't do bows anymore but recoil doesn't bother me. Good luck yourownself.

[rgates]

I've shot 22-250 quite a bit and seen what it does to coyotes. My Savage 10 in 22-250 is down right scary accurate. If you can get a clear shot (not through brush) hitting the exact spot you need to should not be a problem. Just for fun my son shoots golf balls on the ground with mine at about 100 yds. with a 3-9 scope. Not good through brushy areas though. Supposedly the light bullet at 3610-4000 fps will dissentegrate if it hits a leaf or twig.

[Picher]

Deer have been killed cleanly with .22LRs and wounded to run off with .460 Weatherbys.

The .22-250 Rem will kill deer very well with the right bullet placed in the right place.

Professional hunters use silenced, .223 Rems to kill hundreds of deer yearly. They love the cartridge, but recognize it's limitations and take advantage of it's virtues.

Use medium game bullets in the .22-250, place them in the quick kill zones, pass up marginal shots and everything will be okay.

Picher

[texfar]

Couple of years ago I had eye surgery at the beginning of dear season. My doctor, a shooter, told me nothing with recoil. Gave him a list of rifles and calibers and he said OK to the 22.250. 2nd day of season shot a huge hill country buck at about 140 yds dead in the neck just below the skull. 20x scope dialed down a bit. Did not take a step. Would not make it a habit, but with shot placement would do it again in a pinch. Got lots more calibers to fool with than my dedicated varmit rig....22-250.

[Powder_Burn]

I know many people who hunt ~110lb whitetails with 22-250 exclusively. As many others said before, you would be limited to spine or broadside heart/lung shots, but those are the only shots many folks choose to make anyway.

[Art Eatman]

I load for .223 and .220 Swift, but strictly for varmints. I know there are a lot of bullets which are heavier than my usual 52 and 55 grains.

So: What bullets are the manufacturers touting, nowadays, which are specifically intended for larger critters? Factory ammo? Or, component bullets?

Art

[castnblast]

Art, you can buy components or loaded. Federal is loading the 55gr. trophy bonded bear claw, and I forget who is loading the 60 gr nosler partition. You can purchase either the bear claw or the partition through midway for reloading. For a 60 gr. bullet, the partition flies really well in a 1:14. I can get it to around 1-1.25 moa. Not bad...however the 55 gr. BTSP Sierra Game King I can get between 5/8-3/4".

[ARmasterzach]

I started out hunting whitetail with 223 and never lost a deer, mostly 2 a year but sometimes 1 or 3. last year I decided to bust out the 308. One evening as I was sitting in the stand I figured out there was a buck up in the trees bout 50 yards off. I got a clear shot and fired, he rolled over and layed on his back for a couple seconds then jumped up and ran off like nothing happened. First deer ever to be lost, last time to not use a 223. I have used 22-250 a couple times though and it works just as well but I prefer 223.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

AR... you're setting yourself up with that post... there is absolutely no way a "proper" .308 bullet won't out perform a "proper" 223 bullet shot into exactly the same place on the deer, from the same distance, same barrel length, with reasonably equal percentage of cartridge maximum loads...

so "proper" bullet for bullet, shot placement for shot placement, distance for distance the .308 will always have a bigger wound channel & more energy... I like the 223... but that statement is totally misleading...you didn't do your job with shot placement...you can't blame that loss on the cartridge...:barf:

[williamd]

No, does not take a cannon. Killed two mule deer with 22CF LR several years ago. Illegal then, too, but needed house meat. In both cases they were standing looking directly at me ... so just like a hammer blow between the eyes. Simply dropped. No, I would never do it again, know beeter and do not need to ... but someone might need to. Special permit issuers never said what rifle was needed ... oe legal.
I consider the 243/6mm class minimum for deer. The little whitetail deer in TX and the little muleys in SoCal can certainly be taken with a 243/244. But, I have shot whitetail and mule deer that went to a few hundred pounds. I was happy to, as Robert Roark wrote, "Use Enough Gun!". I take a neighbor hunting who is even older than I am, and a bit fragile. Set him up in a likely place with my 243! He loves it and I think I get points with Someone. A few years ago he took a SoCal buck. Last season he told me "I saw those that came out of the canyon you were walking. Sure were pretty". His smile made my day.

[taylorce1]

but that statement is totally misleading...you didn't do your job with shot placement...you can't blame that loss on the cartridge...

Might have been using the wrong bullets as welll, but I totally agreee with you MWM.

[williamd]

AR .... brush, trees, other deflection. Or, just a poor shot?? Heck, I made one once.

[FirstFreedom]

Yeah, ARmaster, I agree with the others - that's flawed logic - you can't blame what is clearly a bad shot on the cartridge. You simply hit above the vitals but below the spine - too high and possibly also too far back. If you'd have hit that deer right, he would have died equally as quickly or more quickly that if hit with a .223. It's the bullet construction, and shot placement, WAY more important than caliber or even bullet speed (though bullet speed CAN help kill quickly provided construction matches the speed).

[ZeroJunk]

There is no caliber restriction in my state.If a man only has a 22 caliber or is extremely sensitive to recoil,use it but pick your shots carefully.

It is an absolute fact that you will lose deer with a marginal shot placement from a 22/250 that you would harvest with a larger caliber and cartridge.

But,you could make the same statement about a 270 Win versus a 300 WBY,etc.etc.etc.

[Brad Clodfelter]

Being a used to be bowhunter I will add my 2 cents. That's probably all what I'm about to say is worth.

Seriously though, if you were to take an arrow with just a field tip as a point and shoot it through the boiler room on a deer, regardless of how big or tough the deer was, it's gonna die, plain and simple. Now it may take a few moments longer to die, but death is inevitable. Now a smart bowhunter would have a good razor sharp bladed broadhead on the end of his arrow. That's the appropriate way to do it, and the fastest. That's the way I see the 22-250 as a deer cartridge. Some people who use them and know the limitations for range and shot placement(meaning exactly what shots are best and when exactly to shoot) then I could see these people using it. There may be other physical reasons why some may use this caliber. And I can see that for those such individuals. But there are better choices for taking deer with. There are lots of better suited calibers to better do the job on all deer size game throughout the U.S. and Canada. In other words, don't bet on a mule to win the Kentucky Derby.

Brad

[44 AMP]

The one your state (or the state where you will hunt) sets out in their game laws. That one is the legal minimum. Below that you are just wrong to use it (outside of desperation), and above the legal minimum it is all a matter or degree.

No matter what you use, there will be a combination of bullet design, shot placement, angle of penetration, and other factors that work a bit better, and some that will not work as well.

Put a 55gr varmint bullet into the shoulder of even a smallish whitetail, and you may be disappointed. Put the same bullet into the spine high in the neck and chances are you will have the deer. BUT, only if it is legal. Many states have a .24 caliber minimum limit, to help offset the fact that it is more difficult to cleanly take deer with the smaller caliber, for the majority of hunters, and after all, it is sport hunting, and part of the idea is that when properly done the sport of hunting is beneficial for the deer population over all, so setting the rules to aid in making clean kills is considered a good thing.

I know of one state, and time when buckshot was not legal for hunting deer!

If you are talking about shooting a deer in your back yard (out in the open, standing still) and you are a good shot with the .22-250, AND you use the right kind of bullet for where you will hit (because sometimes, no matter what, the Red Gods do not smile) AND it is legal, you can cleanly take the deer, even if your backyard is a couple of hundred yards deep. If you can't do these things, you shound't take the shot. It is not ethical.

'Course, if you or your family are actually starving, ethics becomes highly situational.

You ought to consider the .243 Winchester. If you can handle a .22-250, you ought to be able to handle a .243, and a heavy rifle can be had in .243 as well. And it is legal for deer virtually everywhere. The 100/105gr load is the deer bullet, the 80gr for varmints. if you can do it with a .22-250, chances are you can do it with a .243. Drop is not much worse, and it bucks the wind a bit better. .243s (and the 6mm Remington) are legendary for their performance with a good neck shot. Nothing is 100% absolute, but why not use the biggest thing you can handle, because....

[Hawg]

but why not use the biggest thing you can handle, because....

A 30-378 Weatherby or .450 Marlin is overkill.

[biglabsrule]

Thanks for the help!
What rifle should I buy? I will be shooting between 100-200 yards.

Like anyone and everyone will say, .30-06 or .308, most likely in bolt action?
The two have been compared a million times... if they don't tickly you go with .270win, or .270swm, they're both good rounds also...

Someone said savage! I like their guns, great economical and probably more than accurate for anything a normal person would need. Remington 700's can be had pretty reasonable, or the win 70.

alot of options just don't let someone at the gun shop tell you a story that the .30-30 is what you need, it's not, .308, or .30-06 is by far your best bet...

[fisherman66]

A 30-378 Weatherby or .450 Marlin is overkill.

dead is dead

I wouldn't want to deal with that kind of recoil, but "overkill" does not exist; kinda like centrifugal force.

[Hawg]

I wouldn't want to deal with that kind of recoil, but "overkill" does not exist; kinda like centrifugal force.

Well then, let me rephrase it. They're more than you need. Those don't bother me. I've got shotguns that kick harder.